Mixing and Mastering Tips

06/16/2023

Clipper Plugins
This post will make a good reference if your looking for clippers.

Fire the Clip by Acoustica Audio
https://www.acustica-audio.com/shop/products/FIRETHECLIP
G Clip by GVST
https://www.gvst.co.uk/gclip.htm
Standard Clip by SIR Audio Tools
https://www.siraudiotools.com/StandardCLIP.php
Little Clipper 2 by BOZ Digital Labs
https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/product/little-clipper-2/
Big Clipper 2 by BOZ Digital Labs
https://www.bozdigitallabs.com/product/big-clipper-2/
Classic Clipper by IK Multimedia
https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/trclassclipper/
Flatline by Submission Audio
https://www.submissionaudio.com/products/flatline
K Clip by Kazrog
https://kazrog.com/products/kclip-3
Gold Clip by Schwable Audio
https://www.schwabedigital.com/
V Clip by Venn Audio
https://www.vennaudio.com/product/v-clip/
JST Clip by Joey Sturgis Tones
https://joeysturgistones.com/products/jst-clip
DF Clip by Drumforge
https://drumforge.com/products/df-clip-2
Event Horizon by Stillwell Audio
https://www.stillwellaudio.com/plugins/event-horizon/
Saturate by Eventide
https://www.eventideaudio.com/plug-ins/saturate/
Saturate by Nufangle Audio
https://www.newfangledaudio.com/saturate
Clipper 2 by GM audio
https://robertkgm.gumroad.com/l/gmaclip?fbclid=IwAR103Os0ZT-gFxlyCkF4ZQc97fbnKKnyiw1AeaiarzTnvIz_QPNmoYYQKCY
Ash by Acoustica Audio
https://www.acustica-audio.com/shop/products/ASH
Magnus MK3 by Hornet
https://www.hornetplugins.com/the-new-hornet-magnus-mk3/
Clipper by Black Salt Audio
https://www.blacksaltaudio.com/clipper/
Knock by Plug ins that Knock
https://pluginsthatknock.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQjw7aqkBhDPARIsAKGa0oLCMhApJu_wr8b_cJkHg6C3PkkzIG6AM0cPlKFxepz2BK0oFGBmYvcaArZfEALw_wcB

Over the years, our now-iconic clipper has earned its well-deserved recognition among many big names in the music industry and has been used as a secret weapon in the tracks for various major artists. Get StandardCLIP now and use it to increase the volume of your mix or to add unique harmonics to yo...

07/27/2022

Want to know how much space to leave at the beginning of your mastered track for streaming ?

https://youtu.be/OrxDrXCuXQM

07/27/2022

Tips on Cross fades for newbies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p6315Vl7Go

07/26/2022

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚

𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: If you are sharing audio files (not streams) then you are forcing people to download your file and listen to it. Not everyone likes doing this and sometimes that can be the difference between someone listening to your song and not listening to your song.
If you are inquiring about feedback for your song or want to share your song using raw data (.WAV files) then this is the way to go. Just keep in mind some cloud streaming services will not playback 48 kHz but only 44.1 kHz. Also note 16 or 24 bit is not an issue.

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝘀: Once you are ready to share your music publically you’ll want to upload it to Streaming platforms like YouTube, Soundcloud, and Spotify. These can easily be pasted in a post and shared with friends, groups.

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲: This is very important. You can’t just simply be dropping links to your music in any social media group. Many groups consider it to be a form of “spamming”. I can tell you based on experience that hundreds upon hundreds of people are removed from groups daily because they try to promote their music within social media pages and groups. This is very ineffective for a couple reasons.

𝟏- The large majority of people don’t really want to click on random (people that are unknown) links. The harsh reality is they have better things to do and really don’t care.

𝟐- The even harsher reality is group Admins can’t stand that and nine times out of ten don’t even look at your name, they just ban you from the group. Now that might not be the worst part, the worst part is when you go to open your favorite group and find you have been banned from that one too because that particular Admin knows (and talks) with other Admins of other groups.

Your best bet is to share music with your friends, then ask those friends to share it on their timeline. Go to groups where you are allowed to share music and post it there. But do not expect people there to click on your song unless you click on theirs. Be active in that community and pay it forward, you’ll be surprised how it’s paid back.

06/25/2022

I bet only 50% of members will know what this is. 😃
And possibly 25% can tell how many tracks it's for.

05/12/2022

𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮
Something a little different than your typical mixing and mastering tips. But very important.
If someone on social media asks you to listen to a song, work with them or even do work for them, you should never post your email in the comment section of a group full of strangers.

This is the oldest trick in the book hacker’s use to phish accounts.
Instead, you should be asking for a link to the sample to be posted in the comments and give feedback there in those comments.

If said hacker is able to gain access to the same email you use for your social media accounts, they can use phishing scams to potentially lock you out of your accounts permanently.

If absolutely necessary for business purposes, do not give them the same email you use for your social media accounts. Always keep that one private. Have a second email account for business purposes. This way if you are hacked, they won’t gain access to all of your accounts.

04/30/2022

𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴
Mastering is typically done a few different ways, one which I personally promote and another which I personally don’t. We’ll cover the vintage method first and that is your age old “2 track mastering”.
- 𝟮 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: This is where you mix down all your tracks to a stereo file and export it from your DAW. You have already added FX, automation, vocal correction, exc. The mix is completely done and is exported leaving a little bit of room for the mastering engineer to work with (Peak not as important as loudness). This is a 2 step process. 1- mix/2- master.
Pros- You have two sets of ears/two working environments,
Less CPU strain
Cons- Cant make quick adjustments to the mix

- 𝗠𝗶𝘅𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: This is the process in which you mix and master within the same project. The advantage to this method is corrections can easily be made within the mastering process itself. Meaning if the kick is too low, you don’t need to go back and remix it.
Pros- Easily fix mistakes
Cons- More CPU, you also become compromised and can no longer separate yourself from the 2 process.

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗺𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: In this method you are bouncing down instrument groups (drums, bass, synths, vocals) to separate stem groups. Similar to mixing and mastering but less CPU strain. It’s still more like mixing than mastering even though you are mastering in this way.
Pros- Easily correct sub groups, Less CPU strain
Cons- Limited to group stems and not multitrack
Adding certain FX can be an issue to previously treated stem tracks.

𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝗹: My favorite. The all-time best, who invented this idea? It is similar to mixing and mastering within the same project, however we are seeing it more now with people who download YouTube videos (beats) and add a vocal track over over it.
Problem #1- Is the actual files themselves. You are downloading a lossy format and this will never provide adequate quality unless you get your hands on the high res file. However using the lossy file, with some fiddling, you can get mid-grade results that are good enough for ideas and to show your friends.

Problem #2- The downloaded tracks have typically already been mastered. To beef them up and make them sound loud and proud on YouTube.

04/20/2022

𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘀
What is a good LUFS/Peak for my song ?
I see this question asked occasionally. First off what is a dB ? It means decibel. It is simply a way to measure sound. If you are using an SPL meter you can ask how many dB is that airplane noise ? (approx. 140 when its engines are revved up). Or how many dB is that whisper (approx. 20 to 30). But let’s just say for reference we are speaking strictly within a DAW.
You’re looking for 2 measurements here...
1- Peak
2- Lufs (loudness)
These 2 measurements are different in that one (Peak) measures your highest level reached. This is the highest point of the waveform and the loudest your meter measurement will see in a DAW meter. As your meters are dancing up and down, you will notice one measurement that stands above the rest, it is typically the one that (if your meter is set up to “hold”) will show you the highest point in which the signal reaches. For short purposes here, we are not going to get into ISP’s (Inter Sample Peaks). We will save that for another cartoon.

Loudness (lufs) which is the overall loudness of your track. Similar to measurement like the true peak it differs in that it is measuring the perceived loudness. Lufs has 3 basic measurements:

Lufs INT- The integrated value. This takes an average from the whole song and gives you the total sum.
Lufs Short term: Usually a calculation taken from the last 4 seconds. This measurement is critical at times when you have a song that may look great in the integrated spectrum but your short term is -5 lufs.
Momentary: Think of momentary as “In the moment” it is the now. It is the real time measurement happening live in the track as you see it.
Here are my personal theories.
You want your final master to typically fall around -1dbtp.
You want your INT lufs (for Rap) to be in the area of -10 to -8.
Dance music a little higher. EDM even higher than that.
These numbers however are simply a guide. Some mastering engineers believe it is imperative to stay within the -14 lufs value that is suggested by many streaming sites. I however, have never been one to stay between the lines when using a coloring book.
If you are not familiar with Lufs. Download this free plug in. Learn it like it was the most important technique in your workflow because without measurements, you simply are doing work blind and deaf. It is perfectly fine to just “use your ears”. But sometimes our ears lie. Use the tools you have. Like this plug in. Youlean lufs meter.
https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/

Youlean Loudness Meter is your ultimate free VST, AU and AAX plugin for loudness measurement. Featuring LU, LUFS, LKFS, LRA and PLR measurements.

04/20/2022

𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐓𝐮𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬

This is only my opinion but buying or using YouTube beats are only holding you back from showing your true potential.
Start by creating your own personal loop library. It may take some time but when you are finished, you will have a completely free library of your very own beats that you have created and you own.
The only investment is the time it's going to take to learn. No money is needed.
Learn how to draw out midi notes in the Piano roll view or buy a small keyboard controller.

This is the best way to get to the next level.

04/18/2022

Less is more

I can tell you by personal experience, this is true. It was also a lesson that took me a long time to learn. Because let’s face it.. More always seems better right? It isn't.
When you first start a static mix and begin leveling the drums and bass faders, there is a reason it sounds so good. Because your ears can define "every little detail". Once you begin adding more and more tracks it begins to sound cluttered.
Unless... You make everything sound defined enough to fit. Which is indeed the ultimate goal. However, sometimes the stripped down foundation of 20 tracks is So much better than trying to struggle with a project that has 80 tracks.

04/10/2022

dB/Peak/LUFS
First off what is a dB ? It means decibel. It is simply a way to measure sound. If you are using an SPL meter you can ask how many dB is that airplane noise ? (approx. 140 when its engines are revved up). Or how many dB is that whisper (approx. 20 to 30). But let’s just say for reference we are speaking strictly within a DAW.
You’re looking for 2 measurements here...
1- dbtp (true peak)
2- Lufs (loudness)
These 2 measurements are different in that one (dbtp) measures your true peak. This is the highest point of the waveform and the loudest your meter measurement will see in a DAW. As your meters are dancing up and down, you will notice one measurement that stands above the rest, it is typically the one that (if your meter is set up to “hold”) will show you the highest point in which the signal reaches. For short purposes here, we are not going to get into ISP’s (Inter Sample Peaks). We will save that for another cartoon.
And loudness (lufs) which is the overall loudness of your track. Similar to measurement like the true peak it differs in that it is measuring the perceived loudness. Not the highest point in the peak. It is averages and those averages are calculated as such:
Lufs INT- The integrated value. This takes an average from the whole song and gives you the total sum.
Lufs Short term: Usually a calculation taken from the last 4 seconds. This measurement is critical at times when you have a song that may look great in the integrated spectrum but your short term is -5 lufs.
Momentary: Think of momentary as “In the moment” it is the now. It is the real time measurement happening live in the track as you see it.
Here are my personal theories.
You want your final master to typically fall around -1dbtp.
You want your INT lufs (for Rap) to be in the area of -10 to -8.
Dance music a little higher. EDM even higher than that.
These numbers however are simply a guide, many mastering engineers believe it is imperative to stay within the -14 lufs value that is suggested by many streaming sites. I however, have never been one to stay between the lines when using a coloring book.
If you are not familiar with Lufs. Download this free plug in. Learn it like it was the most important technique in your workflow because without measurements, you simply are doing work blind and deaf. It is perfectly fine to just “use your ears”. But sometimes our ears lie. Use the tools you have. Like this plug in. Youlean lufs meter.
https://youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/

Youlean Loudness Meter is your ultimate free VST, AU and AAX plugin for loudness measurement. Featuring LU, LUFS, LKFS, LRA and PLR measurements.

03/18/2022

5 methods Automation:

Gain Automation-
I usually get all my faders right around where they need to be (A rough leveled mix) with some basic FX on my tracks. Then I begin vocal automation first in the gain stages. This allows compression to be received evenly. There are times when a vocal is near flawless (signal wise) and I skip right over this stage but more often than not... it isn't and needs to be evened out. This is done by manipulating automation to the clip gain itself.

Track Automation-
Once I know my gain staging automation is complete, I start adding in more FX, adjusting more faders and making sure the mix is tight, proper levels. Get it close. Then use some volume automation on vocals and instruments that need to be brought up/down in the mix at certain points of the song, (like lead solos).

FX Automation-
Automating FX parameters is a great way to control every single aspect of your sound. We sometimes find ourselves using a plug in for a whole track but wish we could change that plug ins parameters mid way through. for example, a Saturation plug in with a lot of grit for the majority of the song but when vocals start, the input level is backed off a bit so the saturation is not over powering your vocal, thus allowing everything to sit in the pocket/mix perfectly.

Bus/Sends Automation-
After this is complete, I automate the "Sends" for Bus FX. For example, you don't always want an over bearing reverb on the whole vocal track but it in some parts cranking up the verb is just what the Dr. ordered. This is the time to plan these things out.

Master Bus Automation-
This one you need to take caution with. you can easily mess up the dynamics of your mix in seconds by tooling around with master bus automation. However, it can be very powerful to add a +1db or +2db to the chorus in your song. Lets face it, dynamic make most songs amazing and by playing with the dynamics in your song you can make a lame chorus go from just coming in or... "Coming in". Just do it tastefully or its going to sound like someone grabbed the volume k**b by mistake.

No Rules There are no rules with automation, however there are some basic principles. Kick, snare and Bass should more often than not left alone as they carry the rhythm section in most songs. Those should be a left untouched with the exception of artistic creation or to boost/cut dynamic.

03/04/2022

"The problem with being your own mastering engineer"

This question is a lot deeper than it appears on the surface. While it is theoretically possible to mix and master a song within the same project. You are playing a dangerous game.
- You are the person who probably wrote the song,
- You are the person who probably tracked the song,
- You are the person who probably played all the parts.
- You are the person who mixed it.
Now you want to be the person who masters it too?
You can no longer separate yourself from the music and mix, then become an innocent bystander. You have become compromised to the work and are no longer an unbiased opinion.

Times are changing and I understand that. People are no longer putting out as many albums as they are streaming singles, so a unified sound across the board is sometimes no longer needed but there will always be a need for a subjected opinion, another ear to say "Hey WTF is this" ?
I’ve been mastering for 20 years now and even I won’t master my own songs. I have become too attached to them and can no longer listen to them and make an honest judgment. Read this again people.

02/13/2022

Double tracking
There is such a thing as overdoing it. There is a certain quality and clarity about having a simplistic mix (not too many tracks) over one that has Vocals that are double tracked or even quadruple tracked. There are other ways to make instruments and vocals sound larger than double tracking (parallel compression, pitch shifting, delay, reverb).
With certain instruments metal however, one thing is for sure, something like Metal.. the guitars should be doubled, if not triple tracked (2 in the sides and 1 in the middle).

Just keep in mind, Tracks are like drugs, the more you have, the more you need to add in order to create more emphasis. Before you know it, your stealing from your friends to go buy more.
Example, you have a song with double tracked vocal. You come to the bridge, you’re going to need another vocal for more power. By the time you get to the chorus, you may need 4 vocal tracks just to add more power.

It’s important to find a happy medium and not just add a slew of unneeded tracks thrown in there. Because what eventually happens at mix down is you are left with a headache to sift through and your losing actual definition.

01/26/2022

Anyone tried the Black Lion 2x2 interface?
I love BL stuff including their B12A (1073 clone). Always had good luck using their stuff but I have heard QC complaints.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Revolution2x2--black-lion-audio-revolution-2x2-2x2-usb-audio-interface

2-in/2-out USB Audio Interface with Pro-grade Converters, Macro-MMC Clocking Technology, 2 x Mic/Line/Instrument Preamps, Stereo Output, S/PDIF I/O, and 1 Headphone Output